Leading procurement and supply chain software company SAP has announced separate sustainability partnerships - one with consulting firm BCG, and the other with consumer goods giant Unilever. 

SAP and BCG are combining their joint industry experience to tackle the generational challenge of climate change; it is partly a response to increasing investor pressures and strict regulations. 

Together the companies say they will help industry "identify the business values that accrue from sustainability", and also help "set the right ambitions and power an actionable sustainability roadmap".

BCG and SAP will help organisations achieve up to a 40% reduction in emissions by integrating carbon-tracking measurements and learning into their operations and strategic decision making. BCG will combine its CO2 AI capability with SAP’s Product Footprint Management solution, which is designed to target Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. 

SAP & BCG drive holistic green solution

A SAP spokesperson said: “The sustainability transformation efforts of customers will be guided by an holistic solution backed by SAP Sustainability Control Tower and BCG’s Compliance Target Operating Model, to help ensure transformation is focused on business value and that companies comply with regulatory requirements.”

In related news, SAP is also partnering with Unilever to tackle the problem of measuring the sustainability of raw materials, such as palm oil. 

The SAP spokesperson added: “After the first mile of the supply chain, raw materials such as palm oil are often mixed with physically identical raw materials from verified sustainable sources and non-verified sources, causing the origin information to be either hidden or lost."

In response to this problem, SAP and Unilever are piloting SAP's blockchain-driven GreenToken solution. This helps companies know that the raw materials in its products are sustainably sourced, child-labour free and ethically traded.

Unilever & SAP in palm oil move 

Trialled by Unilever in Indonesia, the solution will allow its suppliers to create tokens that mirror the material flow of palm oil throughout the supply chain, capturing the unique attributes of the oil’s origin.

“With GreenToken, we want to bring the same traceability and supply chain transparency to bulk raw materials that you get from scanning a bar or QR code on any consumer product," said GreenToken co-founder and general manager, Nitin Jain. "Our solution allows companies to tell what percentage of palm oil products they purchased from a sustainable origin and track it to the end consumer product."